House and Senate Pass Budget Plans

For the
first time in four years, the House and Senate each passed competing
10-year spending plans last week. The Senate considered fewer than 40 of
the 573 amendments filed, including one of particular interest to FRA
shipmates.The Senate
approved an amendment, sponsored by Senate Veterans Affairs Chairman
Bernie Sanders (Vt.), that prohibits applying the less-generous chained CPI
formula when calculating cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) on
veterans’ benefits.

The Senate did
not consider another FRA-supported amendment, sponsored by Senator Frank
Lautenberg (N.J.), that sought to limit increases in TRICARE premiums,
enrollment fees and pharmacy co-pays to the annual percentage increase
in military retired pay.

The budget
resolutions serve as a blueprint for the annual appropriations process
and, despite action in both bodies to establish a budget for next year,
the Administration’s FY 2014 budget request is not scheduled to be
submitted to Congress until April 8, 2013.